The Most Startling Extremes In Our Solar System

The extreme conditions seen on Earth are nothing compared to what the rest of the solar system endures!

1. Hottest: Venus

SSV, MIPL, Magellan Team, NASA

With an average temperature of 460°C (hot enough to melt lead), Venus is the hottest body in the solar system. Although Mercury is at half the distance from the Sun as Venus is, the atmosphere around Venus traps the Sun’s heat, warming the planet to the greatest extent.

The hottest place on Earth: El Azizia, Libya, is the hottest place on Earth; in 1922, the temperature rose to 58°C.

2. Coldest: The Moon

Being the farthest from the Sun, Pluto could be believed to be the coldest. However, with a teeth-chattering temperature of -240°C, the Moon is the coldest body in the solar system. Lunar cold spots were found in the craters near the South Pole of the Moon that remains permanently shaded from the Sun.

The coldest place on Earth: Antarctica has experienced the lowest-ever confirmed temperature: -89.2°C.

The largest moon of the planet Saturn, Titan is covered with a thick, cloudy atmosphere. However, the scattered showers it experiences are nothing but liquid methane, a hydrocarbon so inflammable that it could possibly be used as rocket fuel.

The wettest place on Earth: Mawsynram, in Meghalaya, India gets an annual rainfall of 11,872mm.

4. Windiest: Mars

Image credit: Malin Space Science Systems, MGS, JPL, NASA

Also known as the Red Planet, Mars is a barren, desolate desert that is frequently torn apart by tornadoes and dust storms. The dust storms may at times cover the whole planet.

The windiest place on Earth: Mount Washington in New Hampshire, the USA, recorded a gust at 372km/h.

5. Stormiest: Jupiter

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Björn Jónsson

The famous great red spot seen on Jupiter is a colossal hurricane in the southern hemisphere that has been present for as long as humans have been able to observe the planet through a telescope. The hurricane, roughly three times the size of Earth, has lasted for at least 400 years.

The stormiest places on Earth: The Bay of Bengal, Antarctica, the American Midwest and the Cayman Islands are the places that claim the title.